Police officer kills armed black man near Ferguson, Missouri
A white policeman shot dead a black man brandishing a pistol at a suburban St. Louis gasoline station overnight, igniting violence reminiscent of riots over the police killing of an unarmed black teenager in nearby Ferguson, police said on Wednesday.
Black officials in Missouri were at pains to distinguish the death of a suspect with a gun from cases where unarmed black men were killed by police officers, incidents that led to nationwide protests and bitter debate about how American police forces treat non-white citizens.
The Berkeley, Missouri, shooting happened late on Tuesday at a Mobil On The Run gasoline station, within walking distance of the Ferguson street on which a white police officer shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown in August.
